December 11 - Eating Right

 Read today’s texts first: Philemon; Hebrews 1-4

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

More serious than hardening of the arteries is a hardened heart. Be careful how you feed your soul! 

One of the things we learned on one of our cruises, believe it or not, was the importance of nutrition.  Why would a cruise ship, offering endless buffets of rich food, spoil such decadence with a seminar on healthy eating?  And why would Jan and I attend such a seminar when we know full well ignorance is bliss! Well, after hearing about the toxins we absorb daily through our poor food choices, we made a pact that upon our return (which was about this time of year) we would set up healthy menus for our daily meals, which we would follow resolutely - at least until we started our Christmas baking! Looking back, that’s how long our new-found resolve lasted!

The writer of Hebrews calls for much better discipline when it comes to spiritual nutrition. In chapter 5:11-14, he exhorts us to move on from being spoon fed baby foods to feeding ourselves with “solid foods” every day. Leading up to that he tells us why. Just us an unhealthy diet of rich or greasy foods will lead to hardening of the arteries, neglecting a daily intake of God’s Word will lead to the hardening of our spiritual heart (2:1;3:7,8,12,13).

These warnings of heart hardening lead up to this famous passage about the Bible: For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  (4:12). The two-edged sword of God’s Word is the scalpel we need for open-heart surgery. It can cut away all the contaminated deposits we digest by living in a sin-polluted world (talk about your “toxin cleanse”). It divides away the faulty and fatty attitudes from that which is pure, healthy and organic to God’s will.

And this encounter with God’s Word must be daily:  Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (3:13).

 “Lord, thank You for this season of rest I’ve been able to enjoy and the renewal I’ve experienced by being in Your Word every day. As Jan and I focus more now on eating right physically, help us to never neglect a healthy diet of solid spiritual food as well!”